When racism and sexism overlap, the “double jeopardy” can significantly reduce the paycheck for Black women. While researchers have explored women’s barriers to negotiating salaries, few studies have centered Black women’s experience with systemic gendered racism and salary negotiation. Dickens and Whitfield bring the lens of a behavioral psychologist and women’s advocacy leader, respectively, to explore Black women’s perceptions of barriers and opportunities in salary negotiation and how race and gender impact their likelihood to negotiate. Their findings show how multiple oppressions create inequities in hiring, interviewing, and pay, highlighting the important implications of intersectionality theory in salary negotiation and pay inequities. The researchers examine potential solutions―including federal policies that end wage discrimination, like the Paycheck Fairness Act, state policies that mandate a salary history ban, paid leave, salary transparency, and equal pay―and efforts to step up stakeholder leadership in the fight for pay equity. Dickens’s ongoing research will include focus group analysis and an online survey to explore the links between identity shifting, self-worth, and race and gender identity in predicting Black women’s likelihood of negotiating their salaries.
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